ISLAMABAD, May 20: A delegation of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) parliamentarians will hold a detailed meeting with President Gen Pervez Musharraf next week, a source in the party told Dawn here on Friday. According to the source, the meeting is expected to be held either on May 27 or May 28 as the Aiwan-i-Sadr has not finalized the day.

The MQM delegation will be headed by Dr Farooq Sattar. The source said the MQM members would discuss the strategy for the forthcoming local government elections in Karachi with the president. He said the MQM members would inform the president about the activities of Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) in Karachi. He said the Muttahida members would seek the president’s help in checking the activities of the JI and its student wing Islami Jamiat-i- Tulba (IJT) against the MQM in Karachi.

It may be mentioned that MQM MNAs Dr Farooq Sattar and Syed Haider Abbas Rizvi, while speaking in a press conference on May 17, accused the JI of creating a law and order situation in Karachi in an effort to postpone the forthcoming local government elections.

They were of the view that the JI had foreseen its defeat in the forthcoming local government elections and, therefore, wanted to sabotage peace in Karachi. The MQM leaders had asked President Gen Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz to take notice of the “terrorist activities” of the JI and the IJT in Karachi.